May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Even during a tranquil holiday
weekend, New York never stops incubating new musicals.

“Lysistrata Jones” is a contemporary, cheeky take on
Aristophanes’ “Lysistrata,” this one set in Athens, Georgia.
Instead of denying sex to men to stop the Peloponnesian War, the
women are university cheerleaders who play coy to snap their
boyfriends’ losing streak in basketball.

The satirical book-in-progress by Douglas Carter Beane
(Broadway’s “Sister Act” and “Xanadu”) has references to
texting, “sexting” and even the troubles of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The theater is a real-life gym, showcasing the best
basketball-themed choreography since the movie “High School
Musical.” Lewis Flinn has written an exuberant pop score, and
given the acoustics, it’s high volume.

Saturday Night

Composer Cy Coleman wrote hits for Broadway (“Sweet
Charity,” “The Will Rogers Follies,” “City of Angels”) and
for Frank Sinatra. David Zippel, Coleman’s collaborator on
“City of Angels,” stitched them together in “The Best Is Yet
to Come,” a Vegas-style revue.

Billy Stritch, a legendary pianist and singer, heads the
company. Joining him are roof-raiser Lillias White, “Phantom of
the Opera” veteran Howard McGillin, siren Rachel York,
chanteuse Sally Mayes and charmer David Burnham (who, sadly,
can’t charm enough with “Witchcraft”). It’s mostly a smiley-face catalog, with refreshingly no “and then he wrote” patter.
There is too much gloss on the blues that suffused Coleman’s
songs and made them timeless.

“The Best Is Yet to Come” is at 59E59 Theaters, 59 E.
59th St. through July 3. Information: +1-212-279-4200;
http://www.59e59.org.

An alternate look back comes from David Johansen of the
1970s-era rock band New York Dolls at City Winery. Johansen says
on the City Winery site that while he loves his earlier loud and
fast songs, he’s been yearning to perform songs that allow him
to explore singing’s more soulful side.

Sunday

Part conceptual art, part hucksterism, all fun: Alexander
Melamid’s new “Art Healing Ministry” aims to cure ills through
art. The Soho store he set up should at least cure some blahs.

There are shoe insoles with van Gogh’s self portrait ($25),
a wood box allegedly stuffed with happiness ($100) and a
modified Jasper Johns flag poster, with the message: “Jasper
Johns is the answer! Stare and Get Cured.” (On display but sold
for $250.)

“The goal is to take art away from the ethereal and make
it useful,” said Gary Krimershmoys, an art adviser who worked
with Melamid, 66, to create the store. It includes a meditation
area and what resembles a dentist’s chair where Melamid promises
free art-healing evaluations.

Sunday Night

It’s been seven weeks since director Sidney Lumet died and
28 years since his “Serpico” stunned audiences. Al Pacino was
nominated for an Oscar as Frank Serpico, the real-life New York
City policeman who exposed cop corruption and was thanked for it
with a bullet in the face. Bloomberg’s Peter Rainer called it
probably the best New York cop film. The Museum of the Moving
Image screens it at 7 p.m.

Visit early to see “Trash Mirror,” David Rozin’s
installation, in which computer-controlled motors arrange 500
irregularly shaped objects to build a picture of a visitor based
on his or her video image.

Memorial Day

With likely heavy traffic on the East End of Long Island
and the Atlantic Ocean a forbidding 56 degrees Fahrenheit,
Manhattan may seem almost rural by comparison. For greener
pastures, Governors Island opens to the public for the summer
this weekend.

Free ferries leave from the Battery Maritime Building.
Bicycles are welcome or can be rented on the 172-acre island,
which is car-free and features a 2.2-mile promenade.

Also opening there this weekend is the largest exhibition
of American sculptor Mark di Suvero in New York since the 1970s.
Among the dozen works is 1993-95’s “Old Buddy,” described as a
composition of girders named in memory of the artist’s dog.